School of resources and environmental science, wuhan
university, P.R.China

zhongliangcai@gmail.com

Electronic map may be stored in computer,
spread by means of CR-ROM, networks etc, and offer users in the form of desktop
computer, touch screen computer, or embedded device. Because the product of
electronic map integrates visual function of digital cartography technology,
searching data and analyzing function of GIS technology, information expressive
means of multimedia technology and visual reality technology, and the role of
spreading technology of modern electronic map, the appearance attracts
immediately social wide interests, particularly governmental departments,
section of enterprises management and the people. Hypermedia electronic map is based
on electronic map, employs hypermedia technology to organize and manage
complicated map objects and relationships between objects.

But until now, electronic map products are
still affected or limited by traditional cartographic thinking. So the
electronic map is not flexible and not adaptive to user interface design, map
content design, dynamitic data organization, dynamitic representation, data
search and analysis. The Self-adaptive visualization in electronic map
specifies that it can actively adapt well to the variable situation like
software and hardware, through dynamitic changing user interface, map content,
map representation style.

This paper will discuss the self-adaptive
visualization strategy in hypermedia electronic map, and focus on 4W and 2H
questions. The 4W questions specify: Where need self-adaptation?Why use self-adaptation? When is it
self-adaptive?and What is it
self-adaptive to?. And the 2H questions specify How can it help? and How do the
self-adaptive visualization strategy work? The paper will give some strategy to
answer these questions.

At last, a hypermedia electronic map system
which has multifunction of self-adaptive visualization will be given to
validate the result.